Cuatro (instrument)

The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute families. Many cuatros are smaller than a guitar. means four in Spanish, although current instruments often have more than four strings. The cuatro is found in Puerto Rico and in South America, and other territories of the West Indies. Certain variants are considered the national instrument of some countries (e.g., Venezuela). Its 15th century predecessor was the Portuguese Cavaquinho, which, like the cuatro had four strings. The cuatro is widely used in ensembles in Jamaica, Mexico, and Surinam to accompany singing and dancing. In Trinidad and Tobago it accompanies Parang singers. In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, the cuatro is an ensemble instrument for secular and religious music, and is played at parties and traditional gatherings.

The cuatro of Venezuela has four single nylon strings, tuned (A4,D5,F♯5,B4) or (A3,D4,F♯4,B3). It is similar in shape and tuning to the ukulele, but their character and playing technique are vastly different. It is tuned in a similar fashion to the traditional D tuning of the ukulele, but the B is an octave lower. Consequently, the same fingering can be used to shape the chords, but it produces a different inversion of each chord. There are variations on this instrument, having five strings or six strings.

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